By Paul Thornton
A RALLY car navigator was recovering in hospital last night after a horror crash at an event in Berwickshire.
Andy Richardson was pulled from the wreck by rally workers after the Fiesta R2 he was co-driving smashed into a tree during the Jim Clark Rally on Saturday.
Mr Richardson was pulled from the wrecked car and airlifted to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary by air ambulance following the smash near Duns around 11am.
He was being treated for back injuries although they are not thought to be life threatening, while the racing driver Peter Taylor was uninjured.
Mr Richardson, from Penrith, was guiding Mr Taylor, from Carlisle, in the driver’s first ever rally season when the crash happened.
A spokesman for the Jim Clark rally said: “During the running of the Jim Clark International Rally in Berwickshire on Saturday morning, an accident occurred to one of the competing cars in Special Stage 8, Edrom.
“As a result of this accident, the co-driver of the car was trapped in the vehicle.
“Exemplary work by rally rescue and medical personnel ensured that the co-driver was successfully extricated from the vehicle.
“He was subsequently airlifted direct to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
“He is reported to be in a stable condition. The possibility of spinal injuries is being investigated.
Members of the man’s family are currently being contacted.”
An ambulance worker added: “A rally car left the road and hit a tree. There was one patient, a male in his 40s, who was taken by helicopter to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary to be treated for back injuries.
“They are not life threatening.”
The Jim Clark rally is a 335-mile, two day event with Welsh ace Gwyndaf Evans taking the top spot in this year’s event.
The rally was inaugurated in memory of Jim Clark, the Formula 1 World Motor Racing Champion, who was tragically killed in an accident at Hockenheim in 1968.
It was first held in 1970 and has been held each year since bar one.
